So how are you sleeping these days? Having trouble shutting down all the nervous thoughts running around your head at night? Reschedule that pediatrician appointment, kid needs new soccer cleats again, why won't the baby's cold go away, where did our dog go, why is the electric bill so high this month ...

Or is that just me?

The folks at Dream Water had the notion that the moms at The Stir might need a little help getting to sleep, so they sent some samples for us to try.

I definitely have a hard time "shutting down" at night, especially when I've been up late writing a Revenge recap (gasp, Emily's an evil genius! What's going to happen with her and Daniel! etc.). I really feel like anything electronic right before bed just keeps me wired longer. So I've been taking the Dream Water after doing the recaps.

Holy ZZZZ, the stuff works. They say you should take it about 30 minutes before you go to bed, but I felt the stuff working after about 15 minutes. I've never taken real sleeping aids so I have no way to compare. It doesn't knock you out -- it's gentler than that. It just makes you feel drowsy and shuts down that mental noise that keeps a lot of us moms awake at night. I woke up feeling fine -- not hungover, just well-rested.

So this sounds like it would work for those of us with occasional, mild sleeping issues. It's non-addictive and I didn't notice side-effects.

No surprise that one of the active ingredients is melatonin. And really, you could probably just take plain melatonin in some warm milk and get nearly the same effect. But Dream Water seemed a bit stronger. (It's a "proprietary blend" of gamma-aminobutyric acid, L 5 hydroxytryptophan, and melatonin. That 5-HTP worries me some.)

Okay, so it works. Here's what it costs, though: $38.99 for a 12-pack. ZOMG, that's nearly $3 a dose. (They're running a special offer now, but still.) So I'm thinking if I were to buy this stuff, I might save it for real emergencies: Red-eye flights, high-stress nights. Definitely not something I would take every night. But then, I don't usually need help falling asleep every night.

In conclusion, gentle but effective, cha-ching, and probably a much safer alternative to addictive sleeping aids like Ambien.